BACHELORETTE SPOILER

If you haven't had a chance to watch tonight's episode, you may want to come back and read my blog tomorrow. I'm going to spoil it for you..........................








FINALLY..........................Why she kept that "jerk" around as long as she did was beyond me. He's a first class JERK. And watching his interview in the car made me want to throw up. ACK. But for "the record" I WILL NOT be purchasing anything recorded by Wes. I hope no one else does either. BUH BYE Wes.............Good riddance.


Now, for my favorites..............I just love Ed and Reid. I think I am leaning more to Ed though. There's just something about Ed. I'm glad he came back. I was so sad when he left.

But, if I had to choose the one bachelor overall that I really thought was perfect for Jillian it was Jake. He was perfect. I think she will regret letting him go. Who knows, maybe he will be the next bachelor???? Although, I have this feeling that Jillian won't end up with any of them. She seems somewhat "disconnected" from them. At least she saw through "Creepy Foot Guy". Now that was a strange man!!!!


Okay, enough rambling about a reality show. I really need to get a life. I just can't help myself. They are addicting. Big Brother starts soon. Woo Hoo!!!!



Not much going on here. We booked our "mini vacation" for the end of the month. Greg has a baseball tournament in the Keys at the end of the month. So we decided to spend a few extra days down there. We've lived here in Florida for 6 years and we've never been there. I'm excited. The only thing I have to do now is get over my fear of going over the long bridges. I haven't even gone over the Sunshine Skyway since we've lived here. I remember when the barge hit it back in the early 80's. We came down on vacation not long after that and I remember my dad driving us over the bridge to see the damage. It freaked me out! I will always have that image of half of the bridge gone stuck in my head. When Liz was a baby, we came down here on vacation and we HAD to drive over the bridge. It definately wasn't what I remembered but I've never driven over it since. At least I have a few weeks to prepare myself.

I was in Target the other day, and they are already putting out the school supplies. Say it ain't so! I'm not even ready to start thinking about going back to school. I'm enjoying being lazy. Mark is still tutoring but he is doing well. I can't believe he will be going into the 4th grade! Where has the time gone??????



Well, time to wrap it up here and get ready to climb into bed.

I was one of those people who had to watch last night's "big announcement". I was flipping between that show and the Bachelorette. I was not surprised at all by the show. I was extremely sad. They went from being a "normal" family to................not sure what the name I am thinking of. Fame definately got to them. I have watched the show since the beginning. I used to be so impressed with Kate and how she stuck to a budget, kept the house clean and took care of 8 kids. As the show went on, I saw Kate change the most. I have always thought she talked down to Jon and treated him as one of the kids. I hated how she would tell the kids that "you don't have to listen to daddy". That drove me NUTS. I felt sorry for Jon. He definately pulled his weight. He does more than my hubby has ever done. And how about how Kate treated her family? Her brother and his wife really were there for Kate. But when she didn't need them anymore, she just shunned them. And whatever happened to her BFF Beth? Beth did alot for them. She wasn't even at the birthday party. I thought it was strange that no one was at the party except for Karla--who has folded her laundry through the years. I also couldn't stand how the show became all about how they got all this stuff. I'm sure it was all free. The motorcyles, the playhouses, cooking with Emeril, etc. What happened to their Friday night family movie night? Remember when Kate always had her camera in her hand? I have seen her even bother taking pictures. I guess she has a "personal photographer" for that now. Well, I hope that they can find peace. Especially for those kids. I hope Jon can go back to work like he wants and I hope Kate realizes that Jon wasn't all that bad. I didn't feel sorry for her at all last night. She definately played the "poor me" card. I have to do it all by myself. blah blah blah.

Anyway, the other show I am hooked on is the Bachelorette. What is she thinking? She has made some poor choices. I will save that for another post though.

Have a great Tuesday!

EDITED: I was just reading our newspaper and it says that according to divorce papers filed by Kate, they have lived apart for TWO years. So why buy a million dollar home and go through the farce of renewing their vows last year. What a bunch of phonies! Reality show? I think not.

Happy Monday!

We survived another weekend. Greg spent Friday night and all day Saturday at a baseball tournament. Guess what? Freedom won! I didn't go. Too hot for me. We have another tournament this weekend on our fields. Hopefully, they can play as well.

For Father's Day, we drove over to Clearwater and had lunch at Skyline Chili. For those of you who don't know what Skyline is, it's a chili restaurant that started in Cincinnati. It's one of those places either you like, or you don't! We LOVE it!. It's not your traditional Mexican chili. It has a greek twist to it. So, we celebrated Father's Day with 5 ways and cheese coneys. YUM.

Mark turned 9 on Saturday! Where has the time gone? I made his cake this year. Not sure if I will do that again. It was fun though and it turned out cute. Everyone who knows Mark, knows that he LOVES Spongebob. I found the cake pan on clearance a while ago. It wasn't too hard to make. I worked out on Friday morning so my arms were killing me. So, it took me a lot longer to ice the cake than I thought it would. I had to keep stopping. I was going to upload some photos but guess what? Blogger won't let me. It's probably "computer operator error". So, when I have more time to play with it, I will upload them.

I don't have much going on this week except baseball, tutoring for Mark and Greg gets his senior pictures taken Friday morning. That's pretty much how things are here for awhile. BORING.

Well, better log off here and get my day started. The kids are up now, so my quiet time is done for the day. Time to refill my coffee as well.

Have a great Monday.

Greetings!

Summer has officially arrived here in our house. Kids are on break. Kids are still unemployed and the heat is on. It is hot here in the Sunshine State. I pretty much only go out if I have to. It finally stopped raining. However, we still need the rain. Yard is drying out again and we are still under water restrictions. The love bugs are finally gone. Man, seemed like they lasted forever. How much "love" do insects need?

They passed Mark onto the 4th grade. I don't know if that is good or not but we working so hard to "catch up" this summer. He is still continuing his tutoring. Hopefully a break from the classroom setting will do him good.

This morning I ventured out to Joann Fabrics and just walked around. I love all the new fabrics out there. The colors are so happy. I used to sew. Small things. I actually worked at Joann Fabrics when the kids were babies. It was my night out of the house. I used to have a whole trunk full of fabrics but I got rid of them when we started moving around. So, I've decided to attempt to sew again. Before I do, I have to clean up my scrapbook room. I'm still scrapbooking. I will never give that up. So, we shall see if I actually follow through.

Not much else happening here. Baseball season is here. From now until the end of July it's baseball, baseball and more baseball! Unfortunately, it's so hot that I really don't enjoy the games. They do have a tournament scheduled in July in Key West. Never been there so I have to decide whether to let Steve an Greg go or make it a "family trip". Mark does not sit very well through baseball games so I'm not sure it will be worth it to take him. It's also a 7 hour drive each way. At least I have some time before we have to decide.

I'm also getting used to the idea that I have to do the whole "senior year" thing again. We should be getting our card any time to schedule pictures. Cha Ching.

I think I mentioned awhile ago how I found this TV channel on our Verizon. It's called Retro TV. I'm obsessed with watching Emergency. I remember watching that show as a kid. Yes it was cheesy but hey it was the 70's. Fun stuff.

They also have lots of other shows on that I grew up watching.......Battlestar Galactica, Hardy Boys, Black Sheep Squadron, Buck Rogers in the 20th Century. Those are just a few of the shows.

Also, two new movies that I have just fallen in love with. New In Town is hilarious. I have watched at least half a dozen times so far. Total chick movie. I'm not a big Renee fan but I actually liked her in this. Harry Connick, Jr. is one of my favorites and he is so cute in this movie. If you haven't seen it, you should. I especially love how they are "scrappers" in the movie.

"He's Just Not That Into You" is another good one. Jennifer Connelly, Justin Long and the girl who played Gigi were my favorites. Again, I've seen this one a couple of times. Chick movie. Hubby's will hate it.

I didn't mean to make this a movie review post but if you haven't seen this you must.

Well, have a great weekend. Make it a good one!

ONLY TWO MORE DAYS............to get up in the morning and get everyone out the door. Tomorrow is the last day of school. Can I get a Woo Hoo! Greg is a senior! It's official now since the graduation was on Monday. A senior!!!! Emily is a sophomore. YIKES. Where has the time gone???? Still no word, of course, on Mark. Still no contact from the school. Big surprise.

Speaking of Mark, I took over "room mom" duties last month. The night BEFORE teacher appreciation week. So, I made sure on Monday morning to get up to the class so that each kid had a flower to give to the teacher since no one was ever told what was going on. So, I was able to get a note sent home asking for a "small" donation to get her a gift card. Guess what? Only 4 kids sent in a donation. Out of 18! So, I new I had to be creative for the end of the year gift. I had this brilliant (and most of all FREE) idea to have each kid send in their favorite recipe and a picture of themselves and I would make her a "Class Cookbook" since I had heard from another teacher that she loves to cook. Guess what??? Only 5 kids sent in recipes. How sad. So, off to Barnes & Noble I went and picked up a cookbook. It's actually a pretty cool cookbook. Very kid friendly--she has 4 young kids of her own. Then I went to Williams Sonoma and got some cute silver measuring spoons and a lion shaped spatula. I'm just going to type up the recipes from the kids that I have and clip them into the back of the cookbook and put a ribbon around it with the spatula and spoons. I'm NOT making it from the class. She will know who it's from. It's just so sad. She's a great teacher, IMO. I know Mark struggled but she did everything she could to help him. I was impressed.

I'm still working out twice a week. I know I should do more. Now that school is out, I'm hoping to up it or at least work out on my own. Our neighborhood has it's own community center and facility so I really should use it. I also have invested in some weights that I can do at home. I have noticed subtle (sp?) changes. It still takes me a day or two to recover after the workouts but it's so worth it. I have noticed my blood pressure has come down. Now my goal is to get off the meds totally.

Anyone watching Wipout on Wednesday nights? I love that show! It's fun to watch. I love the commentaries that they do with them. Such a different show to watch. Last summer we watched that and the Japanese game show one. Too cute.

Well, better get off here. Lots to do today. Have a great Wednesday!

hello..........it's been a long time since I have blogged. I just haven't had anything worth blogging about. I have had a real bummer of a last week. I've been "lost". I have had so much on my mind lately that I just haven't had the physical or mental energy to sit down and share my thoughts until now.

I haven't kept it a secret that Mark struggles in school. I mean struggles! For the last two years I have begged and pleaded with the school to help him. We went out on our own and had some testing done. He was diagnosed TWO years ago with Central Auditory Processing Disorder. Everyone I knew who has CAPD has an IEP. For some reason, "a person" who should have been helping us let him "slip through the cracks", in my opinion. This person even told us AFTER we had the Audiologists report/diagnosis and a psychological evaluation that "just because he has a medical diagnosis, doesn't mean he qualifies for an IEP". He did have a 504 Plan. Again "this person" told us that the 504 Plan pretty much does the same thing as an IEP. Umm. No. Anyway, we had meeting after meeting. Finally, this year they got a new school psychologist who agreed to do an evaluation on him (the report was pretty much the same as the one we had done two years ago). Guess what? He finally got an IEP. This is after another teacher who I was paying to tutor him finally brought it to someone's attention that he really needs help. So, we had our IEP meeting and he is finally getting services. He has someone come and sit with him and keep him on task. His math grades have totally improved. He is still struggling with reading comprehension but he is finally going in the right direction. He can read anything. He was one of the first persons in his class to pick up on reading but for some reason, he just went in the wrong direction with the comprehension. Unfortunately, 3rd takes FCATs (Florida state testing). He didn't do too good. He also didn't have the IEP in place at the time the FCAT was administered. According to the state, you don't pass FCAT, you don't advance to the next grade. We don't know where we are going from here. They gave him some kind of other test last Friday to see how he did but we don't have the results back yet. I feel like everything is so up in the air. I feel just so lost and so sad for him. I even went through feeling like I failed him as a parent. Then the more I thought and cried over it, I came to the conclusion that the school system failed him. Not me. I really hold "this person" somewhat responsible. If they would have ran with the information when it was given to them TWO years ago, I have to question, would we be in this position today? He could have been getting this "help" for the last two years. Well, gotta change the subject..............I'm getting all teary eyed again.

Can you believe school is almost out? Greg will be a SENIOR!!!! Unfortunately, he hasn't had any luck in a job search. Neither has Liz. I hope and pray that these kids can find a job soon. I can't afford them and they really need the money.

I finally got to sit down and scrap a page. It felt so good. I really hope to do some more. Next weekend is my Stampin Up get together so I'm excited to have some "me" time. I really miss having Lisa down the street. I totally lost my stamping/scrapping buddy when she moved away.

It's finally raining here in the Sunshine State. As a matter of fact, it hasn't stopped. It's pretty much rained everyday for the last few weeks. They are the pop up showers and storms but it's so nice to see the ponds filling back up. Today, the city of Tampa lifted the watering ban today.

Did you all catch the Jon and Kate show? Wow is all I can say. I will definately put my thoughts on this show in my next blog entry. Also, I watched "The Little People" starring Bill and Jen. Oh my gosh, loved that show. Such a cute couple.

Well, I'm going to get off here and watch the movie "New in Town" that I picked up yesterday. I just saw the previews on ET for Sherlock Homes with Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law--two of my favorites. Hopefully some fun movies to watch this summer.

Say it ain't so!

This is what's in the news right now! If it forms, her name will be Ana. I don't think it's supposed to become a hurricane, but it's supposed to bring us much needed rain. It's finally raining here and things are starting to somewhat green up. But we still have a long way to go. We are still going to be under water restrictions. Hopefully this much needed rain will be enough to save our lawn. Just the thought of replacing the yard with sod makes me crazy. Just another thing to add to the "home improvement" list. So, here's to a very rainy week. Maybe I will get some stuff done inside the house since I hate going out in the rain. But, I am in no way complaining.